Kenya AA Kariru, Kirinyaga

Blood orange, black tea, red berry and guava notes — that’s our Kariru. It’s grown at 1800 feet ASL, near the Mount Kenya Forest Reserve, a vital water catchment used by the community. Approximately 980 smallholder farmers deliver their cherries to the Kariru factory, which is one of 12 in the Baragwi Farmers Co-operative Society Limited.

Among the objectives of the co-op are “to promote the social and economic interests of its members.”

We asked a customer — Sean Boyd, CEO of Red Whale Coffee, in San Rafael, Calif. —to offer his thoughts on the Kariru. Here’s what he told us:

We cupped several coffees from Genuine Origin and selected the Kenya AA Kariru. When we placed our order we had not really realized the level of excellence that was put into this coffee and all the coffees from Genuine Origin.

When we received our order, I was also truly impressed by how the coffee was packed. It came in a heavy cardboard outer box clearly marked with the country of origin, lot number, sku number, weight, ICO number, crop year and a tamper seal on the outside of the box. Rack box contained 65 pounds of green coffee, sealed in a GrainPro bag, and the top of the bag was held in place with another piece of heavy-duty cardboard. The packaging is the most well-thought-out packaging I have seen to date since 2003. Extremely impressed by not only the coffees but in the way they are being handled. Excellent job!!!

— Sean Boyd, CEO, Red Whale Coffee
San Rafael, California

This post is part of a February series featuring Genuine Origin coffees from Kenya. This month only, all Kenyan coffees ship free (in the above-mention excellent packaging). Just use code SHIPKENYA2ME at checkout.

Visit our store for free samples — or to place an order.